Coleman's Laws: Twelve essential medical secrets which could save your life

"Trusting your doctor can be lethal. Dr Vernon Coleman, one of the world's leading experts, has defined 12 simple rules; each one of which could save your life. Easy to read, this could be the most important book in your life."

Dr Coleman's laws of medicine have been carefully formulated over 40 years of practising and writing about health care. Here's how Dr Coleman describes this book:

`However good your doctor is, and however much you may trust him or her, you must share the responsibility for your own health, and you must know when to tell your doctor if you think that the treatment with which he or she is providing you, could be causing problems. After all, if things go wrong, your nice friendly doctor is more likely to kill you than is a burglar a deranged relative or a drunken motorist. Remember: one in six people in hospital are there because they have been made ill by a doctor. I have built this book around ther twelve basic laws of medicine which I have, over the years, formulated for my own benefit as a doctor, an observer and a patient. I have illustrated each of the 12 laws with clinical anecdotes and scientific data.'

Here, for example, is Coleman's First Law of Medicine:

`If you are receiving treatment for an existing disease and you develop new symptoms then, until proved otherwise, you should assume that the new symptoms are caused by the treatment you are receiving.'

"The living terror of the British medical establishment." - Irish Times

Dr Vernon Coleman is the author of over 100 books - many of them international bestsellers. His books have sold over two million copies in hardback and paperback in the UK alone and have been translated into 25 languages. Dr Coleman has written columns and articles for many of the world's leading newspapers and magazines and has presented numerous TV and radio programmes based on his books. In the mid 1980s he devised the world's first medical software for use on home computers. For more information about Dr Coleman's books please see the Vernon Coleman page on Amazon or visit www.vernoncoleman.com

What the papers say:

Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books - Good Book Guide

The calmest voice of reason - The Observer

A godsend - Daily Telegraph

Brilliant - The People

No thinking person can ignore him - The Ecologist

Marvellously succinct, refreshingly sensible - The Spectator

Probably one of the most brilliant men alive today - Irish Times

King of the media docs - The Independent

Britain's leading health care campaigner - The Sun

Britain's leading medical author - The Star

Perhaps the best known health writer for the general public in the world today - The Therapist

The patient's champion - Birmingham Post

He's the Lone Ranger, Robin Hood and the Equalizer rolled into one - Glasgow Evening Times

A persuasive writer whose arguments, based on research and experience, are sound - Nursing Standard

The doctor who dares to speak his mind - Oxford Mail

He writes lucidly and wittily - Good Housekeeping

The man is a national treasure - What doctors don't tell you

Compulsive reading - The Guardian

His message is important - The Economist

Revered guru of medicine - Nursing Times

His advice is optimistic and enthusiastic - British Medical Journal

It's impossible not to be impressed - Western Daily Press

Outspoken and alert - Sunday Express

Hard hitting - inimitably forthright - Hull Daily Mail

Refreshingly forthright - Liverpool Daily Post

Dr Coleman made me think again - BBC World Service